Arrears in WI? You're worse than a felon...

[Wi-Mom]

Here's an article I read in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal. It's about that guy who shot all the hunters...

Chai Soua Vang, the man suspected of slaying six hunters and wounding two others Sunday, has been wanted by police since 2002.

The court commissioner in Green Lake County, Wis., issued a warrant for Vang's arrest Oct. 9, 2002, for failure to pay a $244 fine for trespassing that year.

Vang and a friend were cited by the Green Lake County sheriff's office on April 7, 2002, after a landowner spotted them hunting without permission on his land.

But St. Paul, Minn., police, who came in contact with Vang numerous times since then, and officials from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which issued him a 2004 hunting license, said it's unlikely the warrant would have made any difference.

St. Paul police were called to Vang's home five times since June 2003 for various reasons, including domestic disturbances and theft complaints, but Vang was never arrested. Police spokesman Paul Schnell said officers typically search a national law enforcement database to see if an arrested suspect is wanted in other states. He did not know whether officers searched the system for Vang because he had not been arrested.

(snip)

Randy Stark, spokesman for the DNR, said the warrant didn't stop Vang from getting a 2004 hunting license because the licensing system isn't linked to law enforcement data bases other than one identifying people in arrears for child support payments. It doesn't even prohibit a person with a revoked hunting license from obtaining a new license, Stark said.

"We're in the process of trying to cross match or index it to people who are revoked, so people could not purchase a license if under revocation," he said.

The DNR also has been considering connecting the system to wanted felon databases, but the implementation poses challenges given the numerous retail outlets that sell licenses.

"You can imagine if you were a vendor at a gas station and people were coming in to buy licenses, and there was an indication that a person is felon or is revoked and couldn't buy a license. That could create serious tension at the license sale counter. We worry about that," Stark said.

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So in other words.. if you owe child support arrears.. and apply for a hunting license the person at the "gas station" or wherever will immediately know what a dead beat you are.. and will have to reject your application, but if you're a convicted murderer he would have no idea because "knowing" he's standing in front of a murderer applying for a hunting license might make him feel a little tension.  Unbelievable!

[shawneetears]

Aint the system wonderful?  And it doesn't matter if you are $1 in arrears or $10,000 ; you get the same treatment (a friend of mine was actually arrested for being $.18 (yes eighteen cents) in arrears....his bail woulda been more than $500.  
Now I agree that those that don't hold up to their responsibilities should be held accountable but really....   why not house arrest untill caught up (you only get out if you are working)  It's crazy.
wish you all the best life has to offer!  :)

[reagantrooper]

>Aint the system wonderful?  And it doesn't matter if you are
>$1 in arrears or $10,000 ; you get the same treatment (a
>friend of mine was actually arrested for being $.18 (yes
>eighteen cents) in arrears....his bail woulda been more than
>$500.  
>Now I agree that those that don't hold up to their
>responsibilities should be held accountable but really....  
>why not house arrest untill caught up (you only get out if you
>are working)  It's crazy.
>wish you all the best life has to offer!  :)


Yeah that makes since! NOT!

Why not have some accountabilty for the $$$ that get paid so we can make sure they are not spent on BON BONS ?

[Wi-Mom]

Yes, this is truely not fair. Not to mention that according to Socrateaser forcing a NCP to work or go to jail very clearly violates our 13th amendment:

(Slavery Prohibited)

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.


I guess being a NCP has become a crime that doesn't even require a conviction.. unless that is what a custody agreement is... hmmm.

If we can have slavery that isn't really called slavery.. then I guess we can have child support without accountability.. we'll call it taxation without representation. What do ya think?

[shawneetears]

wish you all the best life has to offer!  :)

[shawneetears]

Whoa....hold on a sec trooper.....evidently I didn't make what i said clear enough or you misinterpereted what I meant.....

first off  >>Aint the system wonderful?<<<  I was being facetious/sarcstic.

Look, I have been on both sides of the issue.  I allowed my children to stay with their father because they didn't want to change schools and be away from their friends and family they had know all thier lives.  Because I wasn't going to be very far away and since they were not very litte by that time, 10 and 13, I felt that was more important not to uproot them than have my own druthers ......(for reasons other than support I have had cause to regret that decision) even though I have paid my support I was automatically considered a "dead beat"...

I still believe that if you owe the support you should be accountable for paying it...but NOT to the extreme the system has taken it....especially if you can show that you are consistently trying.

And yes, there should be some sort of accountability for the recipients. If it can be proven that the childrens needs are not being met because the recipient is "blowing"/mismanaging  the money then the recipient shoudl be held accountable.  I am not sure what the programs for that are here, the girls' father has been a very good caretaker (with the exception of emotional needs) so I haven't had to avail myself of those but I do know that not meeting the children's needs is enough to warrent a possible change in the custody arrangements or having social services take a look. (Be very careful if you go there... they sometimes don't look kindly on NCP's who file claims....)

I have long believed (even when I was a recipient) that since child support is not counted as income for the payee but for the payer, that the payer should get the dependant deductions on tax returns... I don't know about other states but in NC, they take both incomes to come up with a base value for what it should cost to raise the child/children.... then the NCP portion is determined based on their percent of the income.  Usually this amounts to 60 or more percent of the total estimated to care for the child/children....and roughly 40 percent of the NCP's gross (before tax) income.

The system has long been unfair to NCP's and (I believe) most actually DO pay the support.  But because there have been some highly publicized high dollar cases, law makers have gone overboard and so we have things as they are today.  It's not fair. It is NOT right!   But personally I am not sure what if anything I can do about it.

>>  It's crazy.  -- the system is..and that is probably the nicest way I can put it.